[Elecraft] 4 MHz alignment

[kevinrock@earthlink.net]

Thanks for the ideas.  In the past I built chemical instrumentation and have the same arguments with younger chemists and engineers.  "Did you actually calibrate this 
instrument or did you just trust what it said?"  I had to provide documentation of my calibration before our company could sell the equipment.  Then I had to write the 
documentation for recalibration procedures accounting for the aging of the equipment over its usable lifetime.  

All I want for my K2 is to get in the ballpark, I am not after spot on accuracy.  Since it drifts so much I can't expect to get very close so ballpark is suitable.  Heck it's 
got RIT so I can always wiggle about a bit to get 'their' frequency and 'my' frequency close.  That's all that matters.  I am not about to spend large amounts of money to 
get NIST levels of accuracy.  +/- 50 Hz would be wonderful :)

Kevin.


7/18/2002 5:25:24 PM, "Lyle Johnson" <wa7gxd@fidalgo.net> wrote:

>Sorry, I have to jump in on this one.
>
>Please keep in mind that the display on the K2, though showing a RESOLUTION
>of 10 Hz, does not mean that it is ACCURATE to 10 Hz.  As another poster
>mentioned, there is some frequency drift with time and temperature.  But
>having the 10 Hz steps enables you to fine tune the other station, even if
>the steps are really 9.998 Hz.
>
>As long as you get the 4 MHz oscillator "close," you will be operating
>"close enough."  If you don't operate within 100 Hz of a band edge on 10
>meters (don't forget your sidebands!), then getting within 15 or 20 Hz at 4
>MHz will be sufficiently accurate.  If you stay at least 1 kHz from the edge
>on 10m, then you only need to be within 150 Hz or so at 4 MHz.
>
>If you are using a receiver to "tune for zero beat" don't forget that the
>receiver may not be more accurate than 100 Hz or so.  Depending on the
>receiver, it may be a lot more than 100 Hz off!
>
>If you are using a frequency counter, just because it says you are at
>4.00000000 MHz doesn't mean you are!  When was the last time you calibrated
>its timebase?  What did you use?  And if it is a bargain counter, it
>probably isn't nearly as accurate as its number of display digits would lead
>you to believe.
>
>I bought a new HP frequency counter a few years ago and used it as my shack
>reference. (Hey!  It's HP!  They're conservative...)  Last year I got a
>GPS-stabilized master oscillator and a Rubidium standard as well.  I found
>my HP 10 MHz timebase was off quite a few Hz.
>
>We all have a tendency to believe the readings of our test equipment, assume
>our radios are calibrated accurately, etc. I have heard far too many QSOs
>where the operators are comparing their dial readings and trying to decide
>who is on frequency and who is not. (My radio is more expensive than yours
>and newer besides, so I'm on frequency and YOU have to QSY to get on the
>proper NET frequency!  I'm not budging...)
>
>The bottom line: as long as you aren't outside the band edge, you are legal.
>If you can tell the other station to QSY up 15 kHz and find each other, you
>are accurate enough, IMHO.  So get the 4 MHz as close as you can and don't
>worry about it :-)
>
>Enjoy!
>
>Lyle KK7P